Almost 45,000 international students apply for annual scholarship programme offered by Romanian state

Almost 45,000 students from all over the world applied online for the annual scholarship programme offered by the Romanian state, Agerpres reports.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), together with the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI), late in 2021 launched the first digital application platform for the Annual Scholarship Programme offered by the Romanian state to citizens of non-EU countries, through the MAE, informs a press release.

The call for scholarships was opened between December 20, 2021 - March 15, 2022, with the aim of attracting students from abroad in study programmes for all three cycles of bachelor, master and PhD in accredited universities in Romania.

"Candidates could choose to apply for all fields of study, except medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. In order to promote the Romanian language and culture, the beneficiaries of scholarships granted by the Romanian state for undergraduate and master's studies will study only in Romanian, except for the PhD scholarship holders who could opt for studies in Romanian or in a foreign language established by the respective PhD school. In respect to the candidates who do not know the Romanian language, a preparatory year for the study of the Romanian language is granted, prior to the actual university studies, except for PhD scholarship holders, who have opted for the form of education in a foreign language established by the PhD school," states UEFISCDI.

According to the same source, 89,000 accounts have been created on the platform, out of which almost 45,000 scholarship applications with "completed" status. UEFISCDI states that there are candidates from 145 countries and over 219,000 users who have accessed the platform.

Most applications have been submitted for the following fields of study: computer science, business administration, computers and information technology, management, law, international relations and European studies, biology, economics, civil engineering and installations and accounting.

The top ten countries of origin of the candidates with "completed" application status are: the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of Haiti, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of Guinea.

According to the methodology, the results of the scholarship selection process will be announced by e-mail, on July 15, to each candidate who applied for the scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded for the academic year 2022- 2023.